Hound of Hell
by Robin-Song95
Summary: We all know the story of Dean going to Hell and Castiel rescuing him. But what if Dean wasn't the only thing Castiel let out of Hell? Cerberus, Hell's Guard Dog is loose, and she's got one hell of a grudge against the demons. Team Free Will might just have another member. Pairing: Eventual Gabriel/OC (Cerberus).
1. The Front Hall

"_**Hound of Hell"**_

**Chapter 1**: _The Front Hall_

_By: 95_

**Summary:** We all know the story of Dean going to Hell and Castiel rescuing him. But what if Dean wasn't the only thing Castiel let out of Hell? Cerberus, Hell's Guard Dog is loose, and she's got one hell of a grudge against the demons. Team Free Will might just have another member.

**Warnings**: Violence, Torture, Descriptions of hell, Swear Words. Additional Warnings will be added as I go.

**Disclaimer**: Do I seem like I own Supernatural? Or anything affiliated with it? I have a poster on my bedroom wall people and that's about it. Cerberus though is mine, or at least the characterization of her is mine. I didn't invent the original legend. :D

Cerberus watched as the damned souls filed through the entrance that lay just beside her, and went into hell. The growling slobbering Hellhounds along with a few low level demons standing along the way discouraged any attempts to escape the fate that lay before them, though she supposed that her large bedraggled appearance also helped with that.

She shifted slightly as the position she was sitting in caused pain to shoot up her leg from the deep cut on her thigh. Chains clanked and her head leaned momentarily closer to the line of souls, startling a balding man. She read the story written in his soul and growled and snapped at the filthy pedophile. The aura around his soul turned black with fear and she shook herself out revealing cuts and burns previously hidden by thick black fur. The souls in the line moved around her warily now and she huffed to herself in satisfaction and slowly lay down on the sharp rocky floor. The floor dug into the wounds on her legs and stomach, but her hurting paws thanked her for the brief respite.

She lay like that for a countless number of hell years until a higher level demon stuck its ugly head out the door and forced her back to her feet wit the sting of a whip and scathing tongue. She stood until she could stand no longer, only to lay once again until they forced her to her feet, only to sink back down to the floor when she could stand no longer. An endless cycle that she knew would last forever as the heavy metallic chains and collars kept her next to the entrance. An endless line of damned souls trailing past her, some trembling in fear, others walking quietly, somberly to the fiery domain that lay beyond her door.

Until one day, something a little different happened. A man was dragged down by the Hellhounds, screaming as the teeth bit and tore at his flesh. He shook them off defiantly once they hit the cavern floor and went to stand at the end of the line. Nothing unusual about that, there was something about this soul though, it was tinged with fear like all the rest, but it also seemed to glow. The man wore a resigned but peaceful expression on his face. His aura was somewhat superior seeming to the other damned souls around him, like he didn't belong here.

A cursory read of the soul showed just that, Dean Winchester, hunter by trade, but nothing would point to him belonging here. The people that died as a side-effect of his trade heaping onto the sins of those who had started the problem, not he who had solved it. He had liked his women, and his alcohol but nothing to the put him on the level of the greedy damaged souls around him. Cerberus stood with great effort and craned her neck to get a better , there it was. A deal with a demon done in desperation to save a dead brother.

Hellhounds flanked him on either side as the line moved quickly forward. The message of his arrival must have traveled faster than hellfire, no pun intended, because higher level demons than those that usually stood guard with her were pouring out into the cavern, watching with greedy eyes as the hunter and entourage approached. She growled in annoyance as she was pushed to the edge of her chain by the crowd, the metal pulling on her already damaged limbs and muscles. She snapped and bit at the demons angry barks leaving her throat in quick bursts.

They let her bark for once, and she understood why a moment later when Alistair stepped out of the entrance. She shut her jaw with a snap, stopping mid-bark and cowered down to the cave floor quickly, tail tucked underneath her as he stepped nearer to her, a disapproving look on his face.

"Is that any way to treat your betters Mutt?" he asked. She knew better than to answer and kept her mouth shut, trying to curl into the rock even farther. She had crossed the chief torturer of hell once, never would she do it again. The cuts and bruises on her body would be nothing compared to the excruciating pain and damage that the demon could do.

At this point the line had moved far enough forward that the hunters soul was even with her position by the gate. Alistair was grinning now, which anyone who had ever been in his tender care, knew meant that good things were not to follow. It wasn't just Alistair that was grinning though, all the demons in attendance looked like heaven had fallen and the defeated angels were the ones they were welcoming into the torture pits of hell. Cerberus shuddered, happy demons never meant good for anyone. Who was this man that caused the demons to smile?

The group approached the waiting audience and Cerberus flinched as Alistair reached down to comb through her fur.

"Do you see that Mutt? It's the beginning of the end." he murmured, fingers fisting in her fur, Drawing a pained whine from her bruised throat.

The hunters soul reached the gate, face blank, seemingly impassive to the demons around him. Cerberus's whine drew his gaze, the look of pity in her eyes drew a cocky smile onto his lips.

"Don't worry, I'll be alright." he told her, head held high in defiance. The demon behind him growled,

"Shut up, meat, you'll change your tune once Alistair get's a hold of you!" The hunter was then unceremoniously shoved through the entrance to the torturing grounds. Alistair followed him with a confident anticipatory grin. One by one all the higher level, and even the lower level demons followed. In the end it was just Cerberus and the hounds left to watch the unending line of the damned.


	2. A Bid for Freedom

**"Hound of Hell" **

**By 95**

**Chapter 2: A Bid for Freedom**

**Disclaimer: **Look to the first chapter

**Warnings: **Nothing much for this chapter other than what applied at the beginning.

*****Reposted because I had the time Dean spent in hell wrong. It's all the same except for that minor adjustment.**

Cerberus looked up wearily as the hall seemed to fall silent, the hell hounds themselves bred and trained to fear nothing but their masters whip were cowering against the red rock walls, tails between their legs. Light flickered casting shadows on the hall floor, and she shivered, fear crawling down her spine, something big was coming, and even hell itself did not want to welcome it.

Blinding light filled the cavern and the entire room shook, causing dissent in the line as souls scattered terrified. The hounds at least had enough presence of mind to stop any from escaping through the now ruined entrance. The light dimmed slightly and Cerberus realized that it wasn't light at all, an Angel stood at the entrance to hell and it had been its' Grace that had so lit up the cavern. Everyone froze and just stared at the celestial being that now stood in front of them.

Cerberus spared a thought to the lack of demons that had come running. Did they really trust her that much? To assume she would sound warning in time? Fools. Standing against an Angel, even a low ranking one such as the being in front of her was suicide. And she was certainly _not_ suicidal. It appeared the hell hounds weren't either because only quiet whimpers escaped their jaws as the angel moved farther into cavern. As the angel moved closer to the door, and therefore to Cerberus its' guardian, he looked around the hall with an emotionless almost bored expression on his face, but his eyes didn't miss a detail.

One brave soul with a look of awe and hope in his eyes came forward, Cerberus winced slightly as the soul moved forward. A greedy and penny pinching man, his whole life. Had died with a fortune and hadn't left anyone a single penny, instead he had spent it on a huge crypt for him and his worldly possessions. Much like the Egyptian pyramids of old. Cerberus really hoped the building would be looted for every last dust bunny.

She watched in amusement as angel drew nearer the soul trailing hopefully behind. He finally seemed to find the courage to speak and she cringed as he opened his mouth hoping the foolishness of one soul wouldn't cause them all to be smited. "Are you here to free us then?" He asked. The angel paused a moment to look at the man,

"You? No" he said curtly before moving forward once again, leaving a sea of dejected faces on the souls behind him. He drew close to the rocky shelf that she sat on and she scrambled to her paws, whimpering slightly as the movement caused wounds to pull and in places reopen. He looked up at her at the sound, face twisting into a concerned frown,

"Are you well?" He asked quietly, feet shifting as if they knew that he needed to keep moving. His heart and conscious though, and maybe those ingrained angel morals, had given him pause. She kept quiet though, he was clearly here for a purpose, she had survived this treatment for centuries, she would continue to do so. He stayed where he was though, eyes looking her over noting every visible cut and bruise, frown deepening. She shifted slightly as he continued to stare.

"Why are you here?" She asked when the silence had gone on to long. He looked at her quizzically,

"My name is Castiel. I am an angel of The Lord sent here to raise the soul of one Dean Winchester." Cerberus blinked remembering the day nearly 40 years ago now, when the man had walked through her gate,

"Good. He did not deserve to be here, he was exceptionally brave to walk willingly into Alistairs' domain." The Angels face drained,

"The soul of Dean Winchester has been with Alistair?" Cerberus nodded,

"I must go at once!" He strode quickly to the gate and was almost through when he paused to look back, "Your help was most appreciated Guardian." Cerberus shrugged at him,

"Thank you for taking the time to talk with me like I am actually an intelligent being, and good luck with finding the soul you seek." Castiel nodded at her and seemed to hesitate before extending a hand out towards her, grace stretching out to touch and destroy the chains holding her.

She shook herself in shock marveling at the lack of weight and clanking chains. She looked up eyes shining with gratitude only to find that he was already gone. She stretched, enjoying her new range of motion and glanced at the gate worriedly, one angel against all of hell? The angel had freed her, and she was just going to waltz out and leave him to face all of hell? Growling lowly at herself and her willingness to help, she sent a chilling glare to the hell hounds

"Guard the entrance, let no one through, in _or_ out until I return." They looked at her unsurely but they whined their agreement anyway. Steeling herself she turned towards the door and walked forward through the gate for the first time and into hell itself.

**AN: I currently have 4 chapters written for Hound of Hell. I know the chapters are short but they made good stopping sections between parts of the story and events. Hope you liked it, reviews are nice but do not feel obligated. Happy Hunting! 95**


	3. Hell-Fire

**"Hound of Hell"**

**By: 95**

**Chapter 3: Hell-Fire**

**Disclaimer: Look to the first chapter.**

**Warning: Fight Scene, nothing to graphic, and a bit of swearing in this chapter.**

Cerberus stepped through the door and a world of complete and utter desolation met her, ruined buildings, long stalagtites hanging from the ceiling cast shadows and blend in with the ruined buildings. Smoke curls and forms a thick haze as you try to look up, fire burns everywhere, screams echo up and down the cavern and demons are _everywhere. _

For the most part the demons ignore her, all running towards the center of the ruined city where she can see flashes of bright light and hear the screams of the defending demons, a breeze blows the smells of battle towards her, and vaporized demon is not something she will ever want to smell again. She watches in awe as the angel pulls a blade out of seemingly nowhere, demons are now being slaughtered left and right as they try to overtake the angelic intruder.

The angel, Castiel, turns to deal with a particularly nasty group of demons that had converged on his left side and two demons appear on his right, Cerberus doesn't stop to think she lunges forward and sinks her teeth into the nearest of the two demons. Its' partner pauses to look at her in shock, But the shock quickly vanishes to be replaced with an evil smirk.

"Hey boys looks like Cerberus here decided to break her contract. Wonder what she'd look like inside out?" He called drawing the attention of the demons that were fighting Castiel as well as the ones who were watching and waiting for an opportunity to jump into the fray.

"You lot broke it first, I'm just returning the favor!" she snarled and lunged toward him leaving the first demon broken and mangled behind her. He pushed her off easily now that she had lost the element of surprise and she flies backwards, demons scattering out of the way as she comes towards them before eventually crashing into a stalagmite.

She sits for a second, winded with the feeling that she has now cracked at least one of her ribs and it hurts to breathe. She doesn't get a break though as the demons that had scattered now regrouped and formed a menacing circle around her. She snarled and let out a cry before charging into the middle of the group clawing and biting as she went. Flesh tore and pained cries filled the air as she fought, it seemed though that for every demon she brought down three more filled in the gaps in the circle. Eventually though with aching ribs and bleeding from multiple scratches and one more serious wound on her left shoulder she finds herself back to back with the angel. He spares her a glance as he spins the blade in an arc taking out two demons with one blow. As her teeth latch into the forearm of another demon he asks,

"Why did you follow me?" She spits the nasty tasting blood like fluid out and ducks a swing from a club,

"You may be an angel, but even an archangel like Michael would have a problem taking on all of hell. Do you realize how many demons inhabit this place? How many tortured souls join the ranks every year? Hundreds if not thousands!" She pauses to take out a demon sneaking up on them from the left,

"What the hell did you do, see the mission to take a soul out of hell and sign the top of the volunteer list? Because to me that sounds like a damn stupid thing to do." He glares down at her as the mass of demons seems to ebb for a second,

"I was given the task by the higher ranking angels, Who was I to refuse? I am soldier, I do not suppose one such as yourself could understand such loyalty." She growled angrily at him as he went to go down a side street,

"Well the sure didn't give you a map did they!? Alistairs' domain is this way featherbrain, And I'm a dog we are the epitome of loyalty, man's best friend and all that." She glances around, suspicious at the lack of demons now attacking them, great they must be planning an ambush, probably closer to the entrance to Alistairs torture chambers. Castiel looked down at her as they walked,

"You are no dog, you are a creature from greek and roman mythology who guards the gates of hell, or at least you did." She growls at him,

"They broke my contract, Well not my contract per se my predecessor made it and I had to fufill it. Every ten years in hell I would get a break and get to go up to the surface for one hell year. A good deal for them, but they still decided it wasn't enough and chained me up sometime around the first world war up there. Or maybe it was the second? There were a lot of guys in uniform passing through the gates at the time. I haven't been up to the surface since."

He watched her for a moment as they walked, stoic mask still in place but with something akin to pity in his eyes.

"Stop for a second," She looked up at him confused,

"You are injured, and while I cannot heal everything I can do a little, I freed you, I do not need your death on my conscious because you were too injured to fight. Unfortunately this will scar, I do not have enough energy to spare to erase those." He explained reaching down and angelic grace covered her for the second time that day, healing Grace spilling from his hands. She sighs as the pain gradually eases out of the wounds and the skin and her ribs knit themselves back together. She nods her gratitude,

"We are nearly there, they likely have guessed who you are coming for, Expect an ambush at the entrance to the torture chambers, and I have a feeling getting out will be harder even than getting in." He tilts his head in acknowledgment and they continue down the street.

Cerberus fights the feeling to bang her head against a wall, _hard_, when they come up to the top of a rise and see the streets lined with demons in all directions surrounding Alistairs domain. Castiel looked down at her,

"You yourself said that this would not be easy. Did you doubt your own words?" Cerberus growled up at him in annoyance, the fur along her back bristling,

"No, however there is this lovely thing called hope, such as hoping that demons don't actually have intelligence and will not have orchestrated an ambush right before we achieve our goal." Castiel frowned at this,

"No one said that you were required to help me." Cerberus snapped at him teeth clashing together menacingly,

"I know that featherbrain, Nevertheless I am helping you, now are we going to stand here all day or are we going to free that soul?" The angels emotionless mask reappeared but Cerberus thought she saw a flicker of annoyed amusement flicker across his eyes.

"After you then." He said making a broad sweeping movement towards the army in front of them. Head and tail held high Cerberus walked forward the angel not two steps behind as the demons watched in sadistic anticipation. This was going to be interesting.


	4. Lost Soul Found

**"Hound of Hell"**

**By: 95**

**Chapter 4: Lost Soul Found**

***Disclaimer is the same as in Chapter 1.**

****Warnings: Some more swearing, slight mentions of torture and fight scenes but nothing too graphic.**

Interesting indeed. A wall of angry demons was what had slammed into them, all clawing and screaming to get a chance at taking a piece out of the angel or the traitor of a gate guardian. They fought for what seemed like years, demon after demon falling under tooth and claw or cut of the sword.

Finally the battlefield around them produced no new foes and they were able to enter the racks that held the damned souls. Cerberus winced at the terrified bloodcurdling screams of pain filtered out into the hallway. After a walk through the whole building they had not seen the soul of the Winchester brother and were staring at the dead end that faced them in confusion. A quiet chuckle had them spinning around and coming face to face with Alistair himself.

"In all my years I don't think I've seen a more unlikely duo. An angel and a creature of hell working side by side to battle for a broken soul? Is this what the world is coming too?" he asked. Cerberus pressed closer to Castiel as the higher level demon moved towards them, power twisting and winding out of him to brush across their senses like poisonous vines, Alistair looked down at her with a look of regret,

"Ah yes, the Mutt. We had such fine times together did we not? Alas it appears those times have come to an end, at least for today. You've been given clearance to leave with the soul you came for, that is if you can stomach what he has become." Alistair told them, a nasty grin flitting across his face at the last part. Castiel shifted slightly, sword still at the ready,

"Why? Why make us fight our way in here and then just let us walk out? What sense is there in that?" He asked cautiously. Alistair shrugged,

"I know who I take orders from pretty boy, and those orders were that if you made it in here alive then you could take the soul of Dean Winchester back out with you. As I know that you likely will not leave without the pathetic mongrel at your side then she also is free to go, though all bets are off once you reach the surface Mutt." He said sneering at her still nervous form next to the angel. He turned around and beckoned them to follow,

"Come I will take you to him." Cerberus glanced up at Castiel for reassurance, and found none but they followed Alistair anyway towards a room in the middle of the building with a woman's screams emanating from within. Castiels brow furrowed in confusion, but Cerberus just whined in worry, Surely the soul that they had fought so hard to retrieve had not already broken? Had not taken the first step towards becoming a demon like those that they had slaughtered to get to him? A year was a long time to last in hell, but others had lasted longer, other than his innocence what was so special about this man that Heaven and Hell both wanted him back topside?

Alistair opened the door and Cerberus hung her head at the sight that met them. The soul of Dean Winchester turned around at their entrance and he placed the knife he had been using to cut designs into the arm of the woman on the rack, back onto a table that held various tools of torture. She padded quietly into the room, defeated. They had come this far and he had already broken. He would be a haunted man on the surface, being tortured in hell was one thing, but torturing others? Even a hunter like him had some form of morals and she doubted they would leave him guilt free about the acts he had committed on those on the racks.

Castiel seemed frozen in the doorway, not believing what he was seeing. Why was he sent after this soul? What good could he still do for those on Earth when he had been broken in Hell? Castiel could fix his physical body and dull the memories of hell somewhat, but he knew that this would break most humans psyche. That he could not fix. Nevertheless Castiel had a job to do, He grabbed the mans' shoulder and tugged him towards the door. Cerberus followed quietly, not liking the situation one bit. Alistair had said they got a free pass out of hell. But when had such things ever come easily?

The screams of the tortured souls followed them back out of the building and onto the street. Another wall of demons stood before them, the wish to cause pain to the interlopers clear in their eyes. When the group approached the beginning in the line, eyes sharp and ready to fight, the wall parted showing a clear path through the crowd.

Hate filled eyes watched them the entire silent walk out of the city and back to the entrance. The soul stayed quiet too, looking around with confused and slightly ashamed eyes when he glanced at either of them. None of the confidence that had come with him into hell seemed to remain, a broken man indeed, Cerberus thought. The silence was not broken until they had passed through the entrance.

Those in the line of souls looked up at their entrance as did the hellhounds guarding them. Cerberus spared a glance to the pile of chains and worn rock where she had lain for centuries. She could still hardly believe that she was free. She never had to come back here.

Castiel paused in his walk and looked at the hunters soul who stood there quietly eyes downcast. He sighed and began to speak,

"I will fix your physical body and take you back to the surface. I will also dull the memories of your time here, you will still have them but will not be plagued by them constantly. Six months have passed Earth time. I am sure your brother has missed you greatly," The soul nodded looking up at him with wide eyes, confidence slowly seemed to trickle back into him as he realized he was finally free. Cerberus could relate to the feeling. Castiel nodded at him with an air of finality,

"Let us leave." With that he grabbed the soul, wings extending as he raised them both towards the entrance, he glanced down at Cerberus,

"I assume you can find your way from here?" At Cerberus's nod he inclined his head in farewell,

"I wish you luck then Guardian." Cerberus grinned up at him tongue lolling out, tail wagging slightly,

"You too featherbrain. See you topside." Castiel shot her a slightly annoyed look at the nickname before ascending towards the surface carrying the soul with him. Once she made sure they had cleared the entrance Cerberus gathered herself, Leg muscles tightening before they released and she jumped passing through the large hole Castiel had left earlier with ease.

**AN:/ Sorry about the long wait guys. Though I plan to post two chapters today because it's been a while. Hope you enjoyed reading and will stick with me through the coming chapters and events. Reviews are better than ice cream. :)**

** 95**


	5. Culture Shock

**"Hound of Hell"**

**By: 95**

**Chapter 5: Culture Shock**

***Disclaimer is the same as the first chapter. Elizabeth and Sherry are mine.**

****Warnings: Nothing really.**

********This is a repost because it was brought to my attention that Dean was in hell for 4 months earth time, which was 40 years hell time. So I had to readjust my timeline for Cerberus's time in hell.*******

Cerberus froze in shock as she landed quite literally into a world of noise and sound, and _people_. Loud wailing and screeching noises assaulted her ears and she turned to see a great black beast stopped in front of her, eyes glowing, growling at her, it's human passenger looking quiet angry himself and the wailing noise came again.

"Move that dog out of the road!" He yelled and she started quickly dashed to the side of the black pavement, dodging more of the growling beasts as she went. She paused once she reached an apparently safe section that had people walking, some of which who were casting concerned glances her way. She stood quietly in a shadowed corner and tried to calm her racing heart. Once she had a bit more perspective of the beasts she realized they weren't beasts at all just a much advanced and faster form of the automobiles she had encountered on her last brief visit to the surface.

People seemed to dress differently too, none of the nicer clothing, dresses and suits that she had seen much of before. Women were also wearing more so some kind of blue pants and the sleeves on shirts seemed to be cut what used to be scandalously short. She had known fashion had changed but to see so much of it, and to see so much color all at once was rather startling after so long spent down below in the dark.

Buildings were tall enough to remind her of the stories of giants that her mother had always told her of as a child. They had been a few tall buildings the last time she was here but these made those seem like ants. How much could the world have changed since she last saw it, the answer was apparently quite a lot. At least the language for the most part hadn't changed though she couldn't quite make out what some people meant by some of the words, didn't cool mean cold? It certainly was not cold out it was almost unbearably hot. A pair of colorful sandals stopping in front of her and a hand tentatively held in front of her nose had her thoughts shattering into a million pieces and she warily pressed herself up against the wall behind her, a confused whine slipping out.

"Elizabeth! You cannot just go around introducing yourself to random animals! What if she was inclined to bite or had rabies? Or both?!" A harried voice asked and an older woman's hand drew the younger's back from her face. Cerberus relaxed a bit, so the girl had meant to be friendly.

She looked up at the duo. The older woman was dressed very nicely, hair pulled up into a complicated hair style. But her face contained mostly smile lines. The girl seemed to be in her early teens and wore a very short version of the same blue pants that she had seen on those around her as well as a beautiful purple shirt. She too didn't seem threatening and Cerberus extended her senses beyond what she could physically see to glimpse their souls. She relaxed completely at seeing the kindness and willingness to help there. She perked up her ears as the younger female, Elizabeth, began to speak.

"But Mom, look at her! She's so thin, and it looks like someone hasn't been to kind to her, you can see the scars even through her fur. Maybe she just needs someone to be nice to her? Can we keep her please? Even just for a night? I know daddy has service in the morning but surely she would be fine in the house by herself?! Please Mom?" The girl pleaded and Cerberus was a bit amused to see she didn't seem to breathe until she had said her piece. The mother looked down at Cerberus in concern.

Cerberus wagged her tail and smiled, tongue lolling out in the heat as she panted, trying to look friendly. The mother sighed and threw up her hands slightly,

"Fine, but first we are taking her to the vet, I won't bring her inside and have her giving us all fleas. Then we will see what your father says." Cerberus flattened her ears back slightly at the mention of fleas. As if she would ever have such mangy little pests crawling through her fur and biting her! Elizabeth smiled brightly,

"Come on then Shadow," she paused and then nodded to herself, "Yup, Shadow is what I am going to call you. A quick trip to the vet and when you get home you can have all the hot dogs and pizza you want!" Cerberus wasn't quite sure what hot dogs and pizza were but the mother seemed quite against the idea.

"Hot dogs and Pizza? Certainly not, dog food will suit her just fine Elizabeth." She said as the three of them started to walk down the street towards an area where a lot of the automobiles were parked.

Once they'd arrived at a particularly large blue automobile a back door was opened and Elizabeth tried to motion her to jump inside. Cerberus looked up nervously, actually ride in one of these death traps? They had to be kidding right? Right?! Elizabeth motioned again slightly impatient and Cerberus balked again before looking at the area around her and knowing she would have no idea how to survive in this new advanced world without some help. With a slight grumble she leapt up into the car her feet scrabbling for purchase on the slippery seats. Once inside she sequestered herself down in a corner on the floor figuring that was safest, even if it meant she couldn't see out the window.

Elizabeth smiled in at her from the still open backdoor,

"Don't worry Shadow, it's a quick trip to the vet, and then an even shorter one home."

Cerberus looked at her skeptically as she shut the door and the automobile started with a rumble that vibrated up through her paws and made her clench her eyes shut for a moment in fear. Why did this world have to be so complicated?

Cerberus certainly did not enjoy the ride to the vet, the constant movement, speeding up, slowing down, a couple of screeching halts. She did not like this mode of travel at _all._ Eventually they stopped for a longer period of time and the engine was turned off. Elizabeth and her mother climbed out and the backdoor was soon opened and Elizabeth appeared in the opening holding a collar and a leash.

"Come here Shadow, I promise this won't hurt a bit, but we can't take you into the vet without a leash and collar, it's just not allowed." She said holding the collar out towards Cerberus. Cerberus glared at the contraption, it reminded her too much of the chains that had held her captive in hell. Still it was made of fabric, that should be easy enough to chew through especially considering her naturally stronger senses, body, and thus teeth. She flickered her vision again and looked once more at the souls of the two in front of her, nothing had changed, they didn't mean her any harm. With that in mind she moved warily forward and Elizabeth slipped the collar around her neck.

The leash was quickly clipped to it and Cerberus clambered down out of the car and allowed herself to be lead along the side of a building until they came upon a glass door through which they entered into a room that contained many animals, and smelled of many more. First sniff brought the scents of at least 10 different cats and 30 different dogs to her nose, as well as various small rodents and even one goat. Most of them though had already passed through and the only other animals in the waiting room were a tired looking tabby cat and energetic Saint Bernard puppy.

Both looked up with their owners at the arrival of their small group. The cat looked at her in vague interest as if knowing that she was looking at something beyond the ordinary dog. Even the Saint Bernard Puppy despite its clear urge to run up and greet this new strange canine held back nervously not quite sure of what to think of her. Cerberus rolled her eyes and making sure she only spoke in the common tongue of animals tried to reassure them,

"I don't bite if that's what you're wondering. I've even been told I'm quite friendly." The cat just nodded and laid her head back down and watched the proceedings with interest. The puppy ran up to her barking out a greeting tail wagging furiously, which earned a protest from her owner,

"I am so sorry, she's really friendly I promise!" the man said trying desperately to contain the wriggling excited pup. Elizabeth just laughed,

"That's okay I'm pretty sure Shadow here is friendly too. How old is your puppy?" She asked and while the two humans started their conversation, Cerberus and the puppy became acquainted. After a liberal round of sniffing and licking in greeting that involved much wagging of tails the pup finally asked,

"So what are you?" Cerberus looked down at it and chuckled and answered,

"I am Cerberus, guardian to the gates of hell, older than you could probably imagine too." The puppy tilted it's head in confusion,

"So are you a dog then?" Cerberus huffed in amusement,

"As much of a dog as you are just a bit bigger, more durable, intelligent, not offense, and I do also have a human form." The pup stared at her for a long while thinking,

"Then why are you being lead around on a leash like one of us? Especially if you have a human form?" Cerberus sighed, she wasn't quite sure of the answer to this one herself but,

"I have been trapped in hell for a long time and the world has changed greatly in the time I have been gone, I need a few days to get used to everything and what better way to learn than to live with humans for that time?" The pup nodded slightly,

"Makes sense to me." He turned slightly as his owner called to him and tugged on his leash,

"Looks like it's time for me to go, I just hope I don't have to get shots this time, those things hurt!" He said cheerfully as he walked away. Cerberus noticed that Elizabeth's mother had sat down in a chair next to her and was filling out some kind of paperwork. After much debate back and forth between mother and daughter as to what breed she was, how old she was, etc. Which Cerberus found very amusing considering some of their guesses, they were taken back into a small room with a shiny table that Elizabeth had her hop up onto.

Cerberus turned her head as the doctor entered, quickly reading her soul, relaxing when she found much the same she had with Elizabeth and her mother. Though the poor woman had an interesting childhood and past that had lead her to where she had been today. Nothing that had left to bad of a stain on her soul though there were some grey areas that didn't shine quite as bright.

Cerberus shook herself as she realized that the three humans had been talking and the doctor had slipped gloves on and was now examining her. The woman's aura got sadder and sadder as she took in her condition, Cerberus supposed she really must look a fright, she hadn't needed food in hell, but it had still taken it's toll, leaving her fairly thin. The scars adorning her from the battle out and her time spent at the gate probably couldn't look to good either. As the vet relayed her results to the family Elizabeth started crying and both of their aura's dimmed in grief. Cerberus stared at them all in wonder, they were saddened by what happened to her? It appeared not all of humanity was as bad as those who had entered the gate, she had known this, but she was grateful for the proof to be standing around her in that small examination room.

She was given an almost clean bill of health with orders to feed her plenty and be careful around some of the older wounds in case they were still sore, they left after the mother had filled out the rest of the paperwork and paid the bill. Cerberus happily crunched on a bacon flavored treat as they left with the receptionist calling a goodbye to Sherry after them. Shadow paused in her chewing, Sherry? The mother returned the friendly goodbye and Cerberus would have blushed had she been human, she hadn't even bothered to learn the lady's name! So it was Sherry and Elizabeth who had taken her in, and she still had yet to meet this mysterious father, who she had gathered worked at the local church.

As they climbed in the car for the journey home, Cerberus watched the other cars driving by and wondered what had happened to Dean Winchester and to Castiel. She hoped they had gotten out okay and back to Earth with no problems. She also hoped that she would be able to sleep when they reached the house, she was tired, she hadn't had a chance to rest since Castiel had first appeared in hell. Life was finally looking up after almost 60,000 years in hell, 500 earth years. Hopefully things would stay that way, but when had she ever been _that_ lucky?

**AN:/ Well here's the second chapter for today. The next few chapters don't have a lot really happening in them, but the events that occur will be very important later on in the story and are important for Cerberus's entrance into our time. Thanks for reading! 95**


	6. Home is Where the Heart Is

**"Hound of Hell"**

**Chapter 6: Home Is Where the Heart Is**

** Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as in the first chapter.**

Cerberus lifted her head shaking off the slight disorientation from the light doze she had fallen into during the car trip. Once you got used to it the motion of the automobile wasn't too bad. That might also have just been her exhaustion talking though. She squinted slightly as Elizabeth opened the door and bright afternoon sunlight filled the darker interior of the backseat.

"Come on Shadow, We're home now." She explained looking at Cerberus expectantly.

Cerberus heaved a mental sigh before standing and jumping down to the ground. She shook herself slightly to rid herself of the last clinging vestiges of sleep. She paused once on the sidewalk despite the insistent pulling on her leash,

"Shadow?" Elizabeth questioned as she tugged lightly trying to get Cerberus to move. Sherry came around to their side of the car and smiled slightly at the scene,

"Just give her a second Liz, she's got to be a bit confused by the new place, let her sit for a second and take it all in." She said. Cerberus was just glad that someone understood as she sniffed the air, a combination of scents coming to her from the surrounding neighborhood. Nothing threatening but the chicken cooking down the block smelled absolutely divine. The house they were parked in front of looked much like the others on the street, two stories with a light blue outer paint and a bright red door and shutters. The perfectly green and cut lawn and sharply hedged bushes made Cerberus blink slightly, someone had too much time on their hands. She took a step forward and Elizabeth smiled happily and they followed her mother inside.

The beautiful red door opened to a simple but elegant entrance hall with family pictures hanging proudly next to a mirror. Cerberus took note of the three people in the photos as the two women took off their shoes. Sherry and Elizabeth smiled happily out at the onlooker accompanied by a middle aged man who Cerberus supposed must be the father. She flinched back slightly as a hand came down near her face without warning. Elizabeth paused in her attempt to unclip the leash in bewilderment before understanding dawned.

"Oh Shadow, I'm not going to hurt you sweetie. I just thought you might like to explore a bit on your own, Mom and I have to get dinner ready." She reached forward much more slowly this time and Cerberus watched her hand slightly wary, the leash unclipped easily and Cerberus shook herself in relief noting the slight clanking of the new dog tags on her collar as she did so. Sherry smiled before she and her daughter exited the hall through a doorway that lead to what must have been the kitchen judging by the multitude of food smells drifting lazily out of it.

Cerberus once she was sure that she was truly on her own to explore set off in a different direction quickly finding a set of stairs and her nails clicked on the hard wood slightly as she climbed them. On the second level she found little of interest. Three bedrooms, two that smelled like they were regularly occupied by the members of the family and one that smelled slightly of an elderly woman that hadn't been there in months. A bathroom connected off of the master bedroom and another stood between the other two rooms. All connected by the same hardwood that had been on the stairs. More pictures hung here but they were too high for Cerberus to see clearly, perhaps later she could change and look at them carefully. She would have to wait on that though until the family was asleep. She didn't think they would appreciate the dog they had brought home changing into a human in front of them was exactly good for their mental health. She did take note of the wooden cross hanging above the picture though which only confirmed her assumptions as to their beliefs.

Finding nothing else of interest she wandered back down the stairs, picking up her feet slightly so her nails wouldn't click on the wood as badly this time. She found herself back in the hallway that stood just off the entrance hall. It lead to a rather comfy looking living room with a couch and two nice squishy looking armchairs. Some form of large black screen hung on the wall and Cerberus circled it warily along with the box things that lay on either side of it. One thing she didn't quite like about this century so far was that she didn't know what all the technology was. Even things that she had known of on her last visit had changed drastically between then and now. A door that was slightly ajar led into a small office area that smelled heavily of the man and she quickly exited not wanting to snoop to far without having met the man first.

Another door connected the living room to a dining room with a table that could seat six and a nice cabinet with one glass wall that contained some very nice china dishes. The final door lead to the kitchen and Cerberus's tail wagged excitedly as she smelled the food cooking inside, vegetables, chicken, rice, and some sort of strange sauce she hadn't come across before. Elizabeth giggled at seeing her slightly glazed over eyes as she stared up at the stove. She pointed down at her drawing her mothers' attention,

"Looks like Shadow is going to want some stir-fry Mom." She said as she stirred the beautiful mixture around the pan. Sherry sighed,

"I'd say no, but I know you'll only feed her under the table when my back is turned. She can have a small bowl of the rice and chicken once we've finished eating." Cerberus sighed slightly at the announcement, she really wouldn't mind some of the vegetables either, she wasn't truly a dog after all. She was human once and she really did love onions like the ones in the pan now. Sherry moved around the counter carrying two bowls which she set in the corner, Cerberus walked over curiously, feet slipping slightly on the shiny tile.

She stared down at the bowls in dismay. The one container holding water made her happy enough, but the other did not smell appetizing at all. Hard nuggets were sitting in a pile inside and she pitied dogs everywhere. They weren't even given the good parts of the animal, and since when was meat crushed up like this with other junk and cooked? It looked and smelled foul. She looked imploringly up at Sherry and the woman gave her an unimpressed look before returning to preparing dinner. Cerberus had a feeling she would be very happy for that bowl of chicken and rice.

Cerberus's ears perked up as she heard the front door open and close and she growled slightly in warning. Scrambling to her feet on the slick tile she ran through the door to the hall from the spot in the opposite corner where she had been observing Elizabeth set the table in the dining room. She barged through it and paused before the man standing there growling. He wouldn't come another step into the house until she knew he was safe. Sherry followed her quickly with a concerned look on her face that relaxed once she saw the man in the doorway. She grabbed at Cerberus's collar to make sure she wouldn't try to attack, not that Cerberus had any such plans.

"Dave. You're just in time for dinner," At his wide eyed look down at where Cerberus still stood growling she explained, "This is Shadow, Liz found her earlier and we decided to bring her home, she's got a clean bill of health from the vet, and really she's quite pleasant. You probably just surprised her is all."

The man, Dave moved around her carefully, though they both relaxed a bit as Cerberus finally got a good look at his aura. She stopped growling and relaxed enough for Sherry to let go of her collar. He was no threat, slightly strict when it came to the rules of the house but otherwise a good man. Cerberus knew that the family likely had issues just like any other but at heart, or rather soul, they were all good people. She was once again thankful for whatever divine intervention had lead her to such a good family after the horrors she had seen in Hell.

Dave relaxed when she did and cautiously held out a hand for her to smell, smiling slightly when she sniffed at it and then licked the hand in welcome before turning back to go into the kitchen. Staring hopefully up at the dishes that were ready to go into the dining room. Elizabeth chuckled and set a bowl in front of her containing the promised chicken and rice. Cerberus ate happily, back to the couple that still stood in the doorway. Thus missing the expectant look Sherry sent to Dave and his reluctant sigh,

"I suppose she can stay." He murmured with a slight smile as he watched his daughter interact with the dog. Cerberus grinned into the food bowl as she neatly ate the last bits of chicken and gathered the last bit of sauce and rice with her tongue. She would be sad when she had to leave here, being a dog wasn't so bad, but she also wasn't just a dog and she knew that the demons would be looking for her.

Her worry though had been replaced by contentment as she curled up at the foot of Elizabeths bed at the end of the night. For the first time in centuries happy dreams kept her through the night instead of nightmares.


	7. Supernatural

**Hound of Hell**

**Chapter 7: Supernatural?**

** By: 95**

**Warnings/Disclaimer: Just the usual that applied in the first chapter.**

Cerberus sat up as Elizabeth practically danced through the door a book in hand, throwing multiple "Thank You's " over her shoulder to her mother who hadn't even made it out of the car yet. It had been nearly a week since her arrival on Earth and she'd admit that she'd become a bit complacent in her role as the family pet. Which saddened her, because it meant that she had to be moving on soon, she actually really should have left by now. But she found herself attached to this family, she enjoyed their company, even though they thought her no more than a dog.

In a weeks' time she had completely won over the hearts of the family, though they might change their minds if they knew that she shifted into human form every few nights just to get used to the different form again after so long as a canine. She had also completely exasperated Sherry and Dave with her refusal to eat the slop they called dog food. Elizabeth though took pity on her and fed her real food when they came down for their now daily midnight snack. If the parents were suspicious about the food disappearing from the refrigerator they made no comment about the matter. Elizabeth and Cerberus had grown very close and so she happily followed the young teen up the stairs and into the girls room.

Elizabeth turned around with a ridiculously wide happy grin on her face,

"I got it Shadow!" She held out the book and Cerberus practically went cross-eyed trying to read the title because it was so close to her face. She rolled her eyes and deemed it insignificant once she'd read the series title, "Supernatural" didn't sound very important or interesting to her. Didn't even really tell you what the books were about. Whoever this author was, he wasn't very creative. Elizabeth seemed happy enough to gush over the book though,

"It's about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, who hunt monsters like demons, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and such." Cerberus had been mid leap onto the bed but faltered when she heard the name Winchester, landing awkwardly half on the bed and half off. Elizabeth snorted slightly trying not to laugh,

"Sounds interesting doesn't it? This is the last book that is rumored to be published for a while and from what I've read online it's the one where Dean's demon deal finally reaches its end and he goes to hell." Cerberus by now had overcome her shock and was listening carefully as Elizabeth explained while reading the back cover of the book.

"But I can't let Dad know that I read the series either, he's cool about most things, but he would flip if he knew I was reading something so opposed to what he preaches on Sunday mornings." Elizabeth said as her fingers brushed across Cerberus's fur. Cerberus wasn't surprised by this either, if those books detailed the lives of two hunters, especially hunters like the Winchester family, then they definitely would not sit well with Dave. He was a pastor at a small church, and for some reason Cerberus couldn't decipher, was wary of all the teen books coming out about paranormal romances, Cerberus didn't think he'd deal with a book about the existence of all the creatures that go bump in the night really existing, very well at all. Dave was a good man but he had his faults as did all humans, a slight paranoia/fear of all things supernatural was one of them, he went with the philosophy if you ignored things like ghosts, vampires, and werewolves, that they didn't exist.

Cerberus snorted slightly in amusement, if only he knew of who was living underneath his roof with him and his family. She turned her attention back to Elizabeth who was now reading the book happily using Cerberus as a pillow. These books though were slightly worrying. It really couldn't be fun for Dean and Sam to have their lives published like that, likely some minor prophet who was tuned into the brothers and had decided to use their story as a way to get some money out of the deal. Not that she blamed the guy, the life of a prophet wasn't exactly fun from what she could tell of the few she had met, visions were often painful and you had no control over what you saw.

Judging from the fact that the publishing hadn't stopped she assumed the boys didn't know and she sort of wished she could see the looks on their faces when they found the series. For now the series wasn't a threat to her, though the next book had better not include her involvement or that damn prophet would have hell to pay, archangel guardian or no. She relaxed slightly and watched Elizabeth's reaction to whatever drama was unfolding on the pages. She eventually dozed off and was therefore startled when Elizabeth sat up suddenly when the front door shut downstairs signaling her father's return home from work. She stuffed the book behind some other books on her bookshelf and walked calmly down the stairs, leaving Cerberus on the bed watching curiously.

She stood and jumped down from the bed after a few minutes, especially after smelling the spaghetti cooking downstairs. She paused at the doorway in shocked realization of what she had just spent the past few hours doing, acting as a furry pillow! She was more comfortable here than she had originally thought. She would need to leave, very soon. She was no pet no matter how nice life was here. She was Cerberus. She was the Guardian of the Gates of Hell. She would not become content living a life as some family's dog, she refused to become like so many of the other creatures had over the centuries and give in to the rise of humanity. If she continued down this road she would eventually become that which she pretended to be. Her powers would slowly slip away along with her intelligence and she would actually become just a dog. She shuddered in horror at the thought, she was leaving tonight. It would likely break Elizabeth's heart, but when her only other choice was to lose everything, well the feelings of one human child were insignificant. Or at least that's what she tried to tell herself.

As they ate dinner and spent the evening together Cerberus started to distance herself from the family. She lay on the floor beside the couch rather than on it with them, walked a few feet in front of or behind them instead of right next to, small things but the humans eventually started to notice. Dave stopped in the kitchen on his way up to bed, Elizabeth had gone to bed an hour or so ago, and Sherry was just finishing putting away the night's dishes. He leaned down and touched her head slightly, looking in her eyes,

"You okay Shadow?" He asked in slight concern, she looked up at him with sorrowful eyes before walking away and laying down in the corner of the kitchen. The cold tile a far cry from the warm soft bed she usually shared with Elizabeth or the comfy dog bed that lay in the living room. From here though it would be easier for her to leave out the front door once the family had gone to sleep. The couple hovered over her for a bit in concern but eventually climbed up the stairs to sleep, shooting worried glances over their shoulders the entire time. Cerberus lay still for a good two hours after and then stood carefully mindful of how slippery the tile could be. She was almost to the hall door when she remembered what she had wanted to do before leaving. She could not leave the family unprotected, if the angels presence in hell had been any indication, all hell was about to break out on earth, literally. The three of them had been kind to her, they deserved something in return.

Swiftly she climbed the stairs, feet carefully placed with each step so that her claws didn't make a sound on the hardwood flooring. She entered Sherry and Dave's room first. She concentrated her eyesight on their wedding bands, She'd only done this a couple of times, though instinctually she knew how. Ever so carefully she wove a charm of sorts into both bands, if anything supernatural came near them, or if they were in mortal danger, Cerberus would know and would be able to return to aid them. Once she was done with the adults she moved silently to Elizabeth's room and did the same to the girls purity ring and also her favorite necklace just for good measure. It was the least she could do for them.

She wasted no time in descending back down the stairs and changed into her human form once in the kitchen. She unclipped the dog collar from around her neck and lay it down on the counter, let them wonder how that had happened, she didn't want the thing. Despite her changing forms every few nights it was weird to have to wear clothing again, though she was glad she was able to keep her clothing with her when she changed back and forth between forms. She glanced down at what she had on and figured it would have to do for now, it was way out of fashion but she wouldn't be able to find anything else until morning and she refused to steal from the humans upstairs. She walked into the hall and was about to exit until she saw her reflection in the mirror. She cursed silently, her ears and tail had translated over, she concentrated again and hated the feeling of pressure as they were hidden. It was uncomfortable but necessary to hide her appendages. Blue eyes stared out at her from a pale face framed with short black hair that barely brushed her shoulders completely hiding her now human ears from view. It was still so weird to look at her human form and think of it as herself. She'd spent most of her time as a dog even when she was on Earth. The face staring back at her now reminded her to much of who she used to be, and that naïve scared little girl didn't exist anymore.

Cerberus snapped her eyes away from the mirror angrily, she was leaving, she didn't have time to sit here and brood over what could have been. She was free now, her past didn't need to haunt her any longer. She certainly didn't miss being human, the day that the duties of Cerberus were passed over to her from her predecessor was one of the best of her life. That is until she had learned of that stupid contract with Hell. Her fingers clenched slightly around the doorknob now in her hand leaving slight indentations behind when she opened it silently and slipped out into the night.

The door closed just as quietly behind her and Cerberus focused her thoughts on the journey ahead of her, truly not certain where to begin. First it would probably be best to catch up on all the little things she would need to know to pass as normal in this new century and if she was honest new world. She traveled through the city all night combing the streets for spare bills and change, sometimes having to use her limited abilities to summon it from the depths of drains and sidewalk cracks. At the end of the night she had around $400. Come morning she would stop at the local thrift shop and pick up some clothing that would stand out less as well as a backpack. Preferably one small enough that it would be able to change forms with her like her clothing did. A dog walking around with no owner and a backpack would look suspicious even to the dullest of humans. Then she would start her search for the Winchesters and the angel Castiel. Once she found them, well she'd see where it would go from there.

**AN:/ Sorry for taking so long to update, in my defense I started college and life has been hectic. Here's this chapter though, and hopefully another one will be out in the next couple weeks. Enjoy, Hopefully Review, and have a wonderful rest of the week. :D 95**


	8. A Long Journey

**Hound of Hell**

**Chapter 8: A Long Journey**

**By: 95**

**Warnings/Disclaimer: Same as in the first chapter**

***Longer AN on timeline at the end of the chapter.**

Cerberus looked through the racks of clothing, the wire hangers grating on the metal bar that supported them as she shifted items around. Some of the patterns and styles made her cringe back and her fingers danced back from the shirts as a particularly garish shade of orange appeared. She reached farther down the rail and quickly dragged it out of her sight. She was pleased to find a dark grey t-shirt hanging innocently between a purple dress and a shirt with a grinning teddy bear on it. She plucked it off the hanger and added it to her basket along with a pair of dark wash jeans that she had found earlier that fit surprisingly well. Best of all out of all the items in the store they didn't have a particularly high, well feeling about them.

One of the distinct powers of Cerberus besides reading souls was the ability to feel the emotions and sometimes, if they were powerful enough, see the events that had occurred near the object or to its former owner. Cerberus guarded the gates of hell not because it, currently a she, was a big scary dog, but because it had the ability to see and feel normally, to read souls, and also to see and feel the past through objects. Hence the common description of having three heads. In her true form if she was using all three abilities at once it would easily appear to the onlooker that she had three heads because technically three sets of eyes would be staring at them, and sometimes the brain takes strange routes to comprehend and rationalize what it knows is occurring but can't explain. Not that she was complaining, three heads certainly sounded scarier than one.

She had her senses closed down tightly while in the store, usually this ability wasn't a problem but in a store dedicated entirely to selling second hand objects, everything had some memory or emotion attached to it, no matter how faint. Feeling it all at once would be headache inducing at the very least. At least she had some cool powers though, because other than changing into a slightly larger than normal sized dog and being able to kill demons, she wasn't all that powerful. She had millennia of knowledge stored into her brain on how to fight and how to use what abilities she did have, but she couldn't manipulate the area around her like even a low level demon could. The protection spell she put on the family hadn't even been her ability, it was just an old charm that one of her predecessors had found, ancient but powerful.

A young girl ran past her, jostling her slightly in excitement, giggling madly the girl turned and offered a quick apology before dashing off in the direction of a young couple that Cerberus assumed were her parents. She looked down and blushed slightly glad that no one had noticed her just standing there staring down at the t-shirt like it contained the answer to the universe. Spending so much time in hell with very little to do had apparently made her prone to spacing off while thinking. She would have to watch that, doing it around the wrong people could make her look suspicious or as she'd heard Elizabeth say, "Sketchy".

She moved quickly to the front of the store to pay for the few items in her basket, the shirt, jeans, a pair of faded blue tennis shoes, and a small backpack that was just big enough to fit an extra pair of clothing and her cash. She'd quickly tested it out in the changing rooms to make sure it would change with her into dog form. It had luckily enough, and no one had noticed the dog in the changing room either which was a plus.

Cerberus waited patiently in the line and the lady at the register seemed surprised when she pulled out mostly change to pay, but didn't make a comment. She just gave a long suffering sigh and started to count out the change, Cerberus ducked her head slightly as she heard a few aggravated whispers behind her from the other customers. The woman took what seemed like forever to finish before she handed the receipt and bag of clothing to Cerberus with a smile and a slightly forced "have a nice day now!".

Cerberus bolted through the swinging glass doors and onto the now busy street. She stopped two corners away from the store and went into a restaurant, changing quickly she stuffed her outdated clothing into the backpack along with the rest of her money, now closer to $300. She left quietly out a side entrance and walked to the edge of the town. Seeing no one she changed into her dog form and set off at a quick trot that would take her far away from this place, and hopefully closer to the Winchesters. She passed a small cemetery labeled Koerner Cemetery and soon left Peoria Illinois completely and walked about half a mile off the road along the highway heading west.

**AN:/ So here's a quick run down of what's happening to Dean and Sam compared to Cerberus's timeline. **

**September 18, 2008:**

Sam/Dean: Episode: Lazarus Rising, 4 months after the deal, Pontiac Illinois, Meet Castiel.

Cerberus: Culture Shock, Cerberus meets Elizabeth and Family, Trip to Vet, Meets Dave.

**September 21****st**** 2008:**

Sam/Dean: Episode: Are you there God, It's me Dean Winchester, Rising of Witnesses, 1st seal broken.

**September 24, 2008: **

Cerberus: Leaves family, collects money, finds out about Supernatural Series, Thrift Store, leaves Peoria Illinois.

**October-December 2008:**

Sam/Dean: Episodes: "In the Beginning", "Metamophosis", "Monster Movie", "Yellow Fever", "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester", "Wishful Thinking", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "Heaven and Hell".

Cerberus: Travelling from Illinois west.

**Early December 2008:**

*Both groups will finally meet in the next chapter in Stratton Nebraska during the events from "Family Remains". Obviously there will be a time skip of a couple months for Cerberus. This is where it will go more off into the direction of an AU than the story already has.


	9. Highway from Hell

**Hound of Hell**

**By: 95**

**Chapter 9: Highway From Hell**

**Warnings/Disclaimer: Same as in First Chapter.**

Society had changed a lot since she had last been topside, hell everything had changed since she'd last been topside. Cerberus had thought she had come to this realization in her time with Elizabeth and her family, but it was driven in with a large hammer of uncertainty and confusion over the few months she had been travelling. She'd learned quickly that she was not going to simply hop over a few towns and find the Winchesters, the world was a much bigger place now. One thing being stuck in Hell for so long did give her though was a sense of patience.

So she took it slow, meandering along different roads and to different cities, from city to city, sometimes staying somewhere for a few days or even weeks. The path she took to get to this small town of Stratton Nebraska probably would have made the new website she had found on the internet- and she was still trying to figure that out—cringe. Google Maps was it? She'd played around with it in a library in Omaha Nebraska, where she'd spent almost three weeks reading up on the history that she had missed here up on earth. That's what she'd spent a lot of time doing actually when she wasn't walking to a new place. She knew how behind she was, still is, and knowledge was power. The downfall of many a supernatural creature was secluding itself from society and humanity, but being found by that same humanity as they expanded, not knowing how things worked, not being able to adapt was fatal. Even those who had learned to adapt still had certain tells that lured hunters to their location like siren song. Humans knew what to look for now, or at least some did, and so the mythical were a dying breed.

Paws flattened the grass that grew along the highway and gravel crunched under sore and aching paws. Cars rushed past her, some of the human drivers glancing at her in concern, but that was okay, she preferred those to the drivers that tried to swerve and hit her. Dodging out of the way was unpleasant, and in her current state of exhaustion she doubted she would be able too. Something though told her that she had to make it to the next town that the green signs had been advertising for miles now, Stratton Nebraska. This innate sense hadn't lead her astray so far, was what made her accept the position and title of Cerberus from her predecessor actually.

The increase in the amount of cars, and the decrease in their speed alerted her to the town first, though the smell of fried chicken from a small diner was the initiative for her to pick up her dragging feet and move forward at a slight trot. If there was one thing that she had come to love in this new world, it was the easy abundance of delicious, crispy, greasy, fried chicken. This town was small enough to lack a KFC, but this diner would have to do. She let her nose lead her to the back of the restaurant, and she changed quickly walking into the diner and straight to the bathroom. She washed up quickly, removing the layer of dirt that had accumulated on her face and arms throughout the day, sometimes having your alternate form be that of a dog could be annoying. You were constantly washing up after changing forms because fur picked up dirt like nothing else, and your hands were your front legs and paws, thus constantly touching the ground and getting into things. It was gross, and she was most certainly not eating with that layer of Nebraskan road dust on her hands. She'd have to find a community center or something soon to actually bathe, the last one had been in Lincoln a few days ago.

She sighed as she stared at her reflection in the smudged mirror, she looked like hell. Many of the scars from her time in hell translated over to her human form, The collar mark around her neck and on her wrists and ankles from the shackles, looked like horrible healing burns, small thin white scars from various cuts lined her face and arms. The scar from her wound while freeing Dean Winchester actually looking the least recent due to the healing grace of the angel, Castiel. She turned away in slight disgust, wishing she could stay in her dog form all the time, her black fur hiding the marks of her former imprisonment. She received many stares as she walked out into the main lobby and sat down at a table by the window. The waitress was wary of her as she came over with a menu and a glass of water. Cerberus smiled at her,

"I'll just take an order of fried chicken and the water thanks." She ordered politely as the woman set down her water. The brunette smiled slightly, or tried to, before taking her order to the kitchen. She was in there a long time, no doubt being interrogated by the rest of the staff over the strange scarred foreigner who had waltzed into their small town and diner. Cerberus rolled her eyes, letting out a loose growl under her breath. The rumble of an engine drew her attention though as a sleek black old style car drove into the diner parking lot. Two men got out of the car and entered the diner, immediately being greeted by the waitress who had turned into a charming young lady upon the entrance of the admittedly handsome, for humans, young men. Cerberus rolled her eyes slightly at the display, and restrained another growl when the two were seated three tables down from her in the vacant diner.

The waitress took her time attending to the two men, Cerberus could see her order up on the serving line, slowly growing cold, less and less steam coming off of the chicken. The waitress finally skipped back to the kitchen and brought out her order. Cerberus stared at in distrust, the gravy on the potatoes had formed a skin and the green beans looked frigid. She glanced back up to complain only to find the waitress again at the table with the two young men, who were starting to look frustrated with her constant interruptions. They waved her off politely, and Cerberus took a reluctant bite of the chicken, luckily while it was slightly cold, it was also amazing. She mourned slightly over the fact that she hadn't gotten to try it fresh out of the fryer. She was almost finished with the chicken and had started to debate over whether or not digging into the other items on her plate was worth it when the conversation of the two men behind her caught her attention. She focused and the words sharpened, though she was very careful not to let her actual ears come out, that would only spell disaster.

"I know Dean, but it's best to wait until dusk before we deal with the ghost. That's when the old man was killed, and it obviously wasn't active this morning when we were there." The taller of the two explained to the man sitting across from him. The other, Dean huffed slightly in response,

"That family better have taken our advice then Sam, I won't have their blood on our hands because we didn't take care of the problem sooner!" Sam shifted slightly and Cerberus could hear the concern in his voice,

"You really need a break Dean, we both do. We've been hunting almost non-stop since early October, it's December Dean, it's only gotten worse after the conversation. You can't keep going on like this, I don't even know what vestiges of energy you're running on right now!" You could hear the irritation clearly in Deans reply,

"We're Winchesters Sammy, hunting is what we do!" Sam made some reply along the lines of 'not like this!' but Cerberus was no longer listening but had turned around to look at the two in shock. They were just finishing up their meal and Sam handed the waitress the bill back paid, Cerberus though was looking at the shorter one, eyes unfocusing as she looked deeper to see his soul, holy mother of the undead, after months of searching she had finally found the Winchesters. She unfocused her eyes quickly as they approached her, no need to alert them to anything else supernatural in the town besides whatever it was they were hunting. She hadn't sensed a ghost or the trails they left behind, anywhere in the town that she had passed through so far though, and Sam had said it wasn't active this morning, if the two were mistaken about what they were hunting, it could be deadly for both of them. Cerberus did not drag Deans soul out of hell itself only to have him die because he was being careless and stupid. She headed to the small town library and grabbed a computer, searching for whatever it was in the town the boys thought they were hunting. The article about the closed door murder in the farm house sounded like a ghost, but she'd passed it on her way into town and had felt nothing except a deep sense of despair echoing from the house, but no ghost. She growled in annoyance, it didn't appear as if she would actually be getting that much sleep tonight. Leaving the library she changed forms behind some old trash bins and trotted out onto the main street and through town back to the farm house. Upon arrival she noticed the family the hunters had spoken of moving in, idiots, though she supposed she wouldn't believe the two strangers if they told her such a stupid story either. She decided to wait, and not draw the attention of whatever was in the house, or the happy-go-lucky family dog. She found a small spot under the roots of a tree that had been partly blown out of the soil by a storm. From here she could see one side of the small shed and half of the house. Now to wait. The cold winter sunlight floated in through the cracks in the roots and as her body heat filled the chilly space she slowly felt her eyes closing, if anything happened she would be able to hear it right? With that thought she fell asleep as the sun began its slow descent towards the horizon.

**AN:/ Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, let me know?**

**Also to respond to one of the Guest Reviews:**

**Cerberus despite her identity as a dog right now, was originally human, and despite the ability to change forms, is still human. Therefore any relationship she has with anyone will not be bestiality as she is for all intents and purposes: human. She just identifies more with her dog form as she did not like her past human form.**


	10. Plot Twist

**"Hound of Hell"**

**Chapter 10: Plot Twist **

**By: 95**

**Warnings: Some cursing and violence/killing in this chapter. But it's the Winchesters do you expect any less?**

**Disclaimer: Same as in first chapter.**

Cerberus woke to the sounds of screaming, the pitch black around her was disorienting until she remembered where she was and stuck her head out from underneath the network of roots. Thankful for good night vision she could see lights on inside the house, but the most screaming was coming from the shed. She saw to figures outlined in the dim light from a broken window in the back of the shed, and a ghostly pale white figure trying to break in through a hatch on the side of the shed nearest her. That coupled with the screams was enough for her to scramble out from her little hideout and race across the open field, deftly dodging holes and bumps in the scraggly grass. The women were doing a fair job at keeping the figure out of the shed but they were fighting a losing battle. She was mere feet away when the, what in the world was it? Broke in completely, She dashed forward and grabbed the things leg, pulling hard with her hind legs to drag the thing back out of the shed. Once fully out of the shed the thing turned on her, even while she still had its filthy leg in her jaws. She saw the knife swinging around and dodged just in time, letting her grip on the leg go in self-preservation. The knife dug into the ground next to her front paw and she lunged towards the creatures conveniently open neck, knowing she was going to regret this, if mere objects held bad memories, skin to skin contact with something this foul would be horrendous.

She caught a glimpse of the Winchesters along with some of the family running out of the house as her teeth sunk into the flesh on the creatures' neck. The creature shrieked and thrashed, as the taste of blood filled her mouth making her want to vomit repeatedly, Cerberus was flooded with emotions and memories. She barely managed to hold on until she was sure it was dead before letting go and changing quickly into human form, vomiting onto the grass, arms barely holding up her weight they were shaking so bad. She vaguely heard a 'What the Hell?!" from the direction of the hunters and the sound of a gun being cocked and pointed in her direction. If she was able, she would have screamed from frustration, did they not see her in agony? Did they not see her just save those two girls? Was every monster bad? At that point though she lost the battle with the memories of the girl she had just killed, the emotions flooding in with the memories in a tidal wave, and if the memories were strong enough the physical sensations as well. This time she did scream as she fell to the ground, curling into a ball trying to avoid the raw pain, hate, and anger.

**Kate Carter (Daughter in the family) POV:**

Kate rounded the side of the shed with her mother only to see a large black dog step off of the body of the insane girl that had been trying to kill them all night. If that wasn't unusual enough, though what about this night wasn't? The dog then changed into a girl who appeared just a little older than her who promptly upchucked all over the grass. Kate didn't blame her for that one though, she would be vomiting too if she had to kill someone like that. One of the two men, Dean she thought, stepped forward and levelled one of the recovered guns at the girl as she fell over screaming. Not one of those horror movie fake screams either, Kate didn't think she'd ever heard a scream so pain-filled and primal. Goose bumps raised up on her arms as the hunter prepared to fire. That's when the already horror filled and freaky strange night got even weirder, a man in a trench coat appeared in front of Dean, causing the man to recoil back sharply with a muttered curse.

"What the fuck do you want?!" He cried in exasperation, completely done with tonight's events.

The man looked at him seriously,

"Don't shoot her." He said, voice deeper than anyone Kate had ever met, Barely heard over the shrill screams that were diminishing in volume from the girl on the ground. Dean threw up his hands in frustration,

"And why not?! She turned from a scary black grimm like dog into a freaky looking scary screaming girl!" The man looked at him, if possible growing more serious,

"She saved you from hell." Dean and Sam both looked at him quizzically,

"I thought that was you who," Sam paused here to put the next part into air quotes, "Raised him from Perdition?" Castiel shot him a look that was most certainly not amused,

"I may have had some help. That," he said pointing to the girl on the ground, "Is Cerberus."

Kate finally saw her opportunity,

"Like the Cerberus from Greek and Roman Mythology?! You have got to be kidding me." This crazy night had gone on long enough, she was so fed up with everything being so- just not normal. She winced as the screams started again, before dying down again into whimpers,

"Is no one going to help that poor girl? There's got to be something you can do?!" She asked gesturing past the trenchcoat guy to the girl in the field beyond. The man shook his head and shot a glance behind him,

"No. This is part of the role that she accepted, she will have to ride the memories out on her own." He answered stiffly, still staring meaningfully at the gun in Deans hands. Startled he slowly put the gun back down,

"You mean she's experiencing the memories of that freaky girl who lived in the house?" He, and everyone else flinched slightly at the nod the man gave to him. Kate and her family were summarily ushered back into the now creepy basement people free house and the two hunters along with trenchcoat guy approached the girl, Cerberus.

**AN:/ Thanks to all of you who reviewed, sorry I haven't replied to them yet but for some reason the reviews notifications weren't emailed to me. Anywho hope you enjoyed. I'm working on Chapter 12 now and so won't be posting 11 until I'm done writing 13. To be honest I don't know when that will be because as much as I enjoy writing, midterms are coming up. Yay Midterms. Either way hope you liked it and see y'all next chapter.**


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